The world is buzzing after Barcelona overcame a 4-0 deficit to Paris Saint-Germain in Wednesday's Champions League action. However, it was American wonderkid Christian Pulisic that stole the show in the other Champions League match between Borussia Dortmund and Benfica.
Dortmund came into the second leg of the Round of 16 of the Champions League needing to overturn a 1-0 deficit. The German club was without star forward Marco Reus, who was injured last week, and it was the 18-year-old Christian Pulisic that replaced him in the starting lineup.
The USMNT star made his presence felt early after getting the assist on the opening goal by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang four minutes into the game. Pulisic flicked the corner by Ousmane Dembele using his head to the wide open Aubameyang to put Dortmund level 1-1 on aggregate, per Yahoo! Sports.
After a back-and-forth goalless battle for the rest of the first half, Christian Pulisic scored his first-ever Champions League goal and the eventual winner in the 59th minute. He chipped the through ball from Lukasz Piszczek over Benfica keeper Ederson for the sublime goal.
"It was my first-ever Champions League goal and probably the most important one I've scored to date. It was an incredible, amazing feeling," Pulisic said after the game via the official website of Borussia Dortmund.
Aubameyang finished off Benfica by scoring two more goals to become the first-ever African-born player to score a hat-trick in the Champions League knockout stages. Dortmund got the 4-0 win and they go through the quarterfinals with a 4-1 aggregate score.
According to ESPN, Christian Pulisic also became the Dortmund's youngest goalscorer in the Champions League at 18 years, five months and 18 days old. It's not the only record Pulisic set in Germany as he is also the youngest non-German goalscorer ever in the history of the Bundesliga.
Christian Pulisic has scored six goals in 40 appearances for Dortmund since making his debut last season. He will surely be in the starting lineup for Dortmund against Hertha Berlin this weekend. He could also earn a place as a starter for the USMNT for matches later this March.
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